Andy Dalton Must Learn from Past Failures vs. Browns

As quarterback Andy Dalton goes, so do the Cincinnati Bengals. We've seen the repercussions, both good and bad, of this dependence on the quarterback since he took the starting job in 2011. 

Dalton has a tough task ahead of him on Sunday when his Bengals travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns. The Browns have already handed Dalton the worst game of his career this season, a Week 10 24-3 Bengals loss in which Dalton ended the day with a quarterback rating of just 2.0.

Dalton completed only 10 of his 33 pass attempts in the game for 86 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. He was also sacked twice. Nothing in the passing game worked for him, as he faced significant pressure from Cleveland's defensive front and the secondary shut down his biggest and best target, A.J. Green, who had only three catches on 10 targets for 23 yards.

His struggles against the Browns aren't just limited to this year's first meeting. In his career, Dalton has completed only 58.67 percent of his passes against Cleveland, compared to his 61.4 percent average. He's thrown for 1,435 yards and has 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. The Bengals have won four and lost three games against the Browns during Dalton's tenure.

	Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	TD	INT	Rating
Week 10	33	10	30.3%	86	0	3	2.0
Career	225	132	58.67%	1,435	11	10	75.3

Hoping for a better connection between Dalton and Green isn't the answer, either. The Browns defense—particularly cornerback Joe Haden—has handled Green well in the teams' seven meetings.

Green has caught just 30 of 61 passes thrown his way for 425 yards and four touchdowns. He is averaging 60.7 yards per game against the Browns, compared to 83.2 yards per game in his career. Plus, Green isn't the touchdown producer he's been in seasons past. He has just six scores so far this year. 

Fellow receiver Mohamed Sanu won't likely be much help, either. He had just two catches on seven targets for 20 yards in Week 10 against Cleveland and will be matched up with cornerback Buster Skrine, who is quietly having a good season.

Though he's allowed six touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Skrine also has four interceptions and seven passes defensed and opposing quarterbacks have an average rating of 80.4 when throwing in his direction.

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Further complicating matters for Dalton is the Browns' defensive front, which has gotten better since the first meeting in November. Last week, they harassed Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck to the tune of three sacks and 13 quarterback hits. They picked him off twice, including a pick-six and had a sack-fumble returned for a touchdown.

Pressure and Dalton have been much like oil and water—they don't mix. Helping Dalton immensely is that he's protected by one of the higher-quality offensive lines in the NFL, but he's still struggling when pressure gets to him. 

According to PFF, Dalton ranks 16th among quarterbacks under pressure, though only Denver's Peyton Manning sees pressure less frequently. Dalton has been pressured on just 23.5 percent of his dropbacks—that makes for 100 pressured dropbacks—yielding 16 sacks. His completion percentage under pressure is just 47.4 percent.

This paints a dim picture for Dalton's chances for success on Sunday, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are ways to protect him from both the Browns secondary and their pass rush, and the secret is to run the ball.

Running wasn't much of an option for the Bengals in Week 10, with the team down 17-3 by halftime. Ultimately, they rushed 22 times for 86 yards, with 15 carries and 62 yards in the first half. Teams understandably become more pass-heavy when playing from behind, even those like the Bengals who have been running the ball well. 

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Still, if the Bengals can establish the run early against the Browns on Sunday, they'll take pressure off of Dalton and hopefully gain the upper hand in the time of possession battle. The Browns defense isn't struggling as much against the run as it did earlier this year. It currently ranks 26th overall and is allowing an average of 129.5 rushing yards per game.

The Bengals, however, rank seventh in average rushing attempts per game, at 29.3, and 10th in rushing yards per game, at 121.5. If the Bengals can get their run-pass ratio to lean toward the run, the odds of Dalton making game-changing mistakes decreases.

That task will fall primarily to running back Jeremy Hill, who fellow back Giovani Bernard confirmed to The Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Dehner Jr. will get the start.

The decision comes one day after offensive coordinator Hue Jackson remarked to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com that he would prefer a single lead back in Cincinnati.

Jackson said, "I'm used to having one guy kind of dominate some carries because in order for backs to be really good, they've got to get lathered up to play," adding, "We have two capable guys and they're different guys and we'll let it play itself out, but I think we have a pretty good idea which way we're headed."

Hill has 152 carries this year for 729 yards and six touchdowns and is averaging 4.8 yards per carry. It will be up to him to take advantage of Cleveland's run defense deficiencies and move the chains so that Dalton doesn't have to drop back so much. The Bengals just have to avoid a significant points deficit; otherwise, Hill's contribution will be limited.

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But ultimately, Dalton's performance rests on his own shoulders. Many of Dalton's bad games have been a result of his inability to get out of his own way. Managing pressure—whether from a pass rush or from a high-stakes scenario—has not been his forte over the course of his career.

The Bengals, at 8-4-1, currently lead the AFC North. However, two of their last three games are against divisional opponents with the other being a Week 16 Monday night contest against the Denver Broncos. If anything screams "high pressure," it's Dalton's next three weeks.

Dalton, by now, knows quite well what the Browns defense is capable of doing. He knows he made many mistakes and forced passes he shouldn't have against them in Week 10, and there's nothing he'd rather do than redeem himself against the team that handed him his worst-ever performance.

Team	Record	Div. Record
Bengals	8-4-1	2-2
Steelers	8-5	3-2
Ravens	8-5	2-3
Browns	7-6	2-2

The question is whether or not he can. It's been the overarching question on Dalton's career. He's unpredictable on a near-weekly basis, with great performances often followed by poor ones.

On Sunday, Dalton must remain calm in the pocket, make decisions wisely and take what the defense gives him rather than locking in on Green if he cannot get open. He also needs Hill to run effectively and for his defense to keep the Browns offense from getting as far ahead as early as they did in the first meeting.

If the Bengals want to remain in control of the AFC North and on the path to the postseason, they must defeat the Browns on Sunday. And to defeat the Browns, they must get good quarterback play out of Dalton. It's as simple—and yet, at the same time, as complex—as that.

Hopefully, Dalton has studied up on exactly what he got wrong in Week 10 and is ready to bounce back and split the series with the Browns. Otherwise, if he doesn't, he'll be sending his team on an uphill battle in a very close divisional race to close out the season.

All stats via Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise cited.